Aldred: A Real, Good Test

Tom Aldred believes Tuesday’s pre-season game at Tranmere Rovers gave Blackpool a good idea of what to expect this season and where they need to improve.

The Seasiders battled out a goalless draw at Prenton Park and looked solid, but lacked a spark in the final third, particularly in front of goal.

With Tranmere competing a division below and often aiming for a target man, Aldred insists it was the ideal test for this stage of pre-season.

“We’ve not had a game like that in pre-season so it raises the awareness of what needs to be done to move forward because there’ll be a lot of tests like that in the league,” he said.

“It was probably our toughest game so far. A lot of the game are like that in League Two, physical and route one so that was a real, good test.

“The positives are that we did take a clean sheet but we know we can play a lot better. It’s disappointing we couldn’t cause more problems but that will come with time.”

Defender Aldred returned for pre-season with a large section of last season’s squad and the 25-year-old thinks the continuity could be key this time around.

“There was a lot through the door straight away so it means it won’t take the first few games of the league to gel. We’re starting to build relationships all over the pitch.

“The squad is stronger going into this league than it was last season.

"There has been a lot of injuries and niggles so it’s been difficult to get a full squad of players together to try different things, but I’m sure the injured lads will work hard to get back in there.”

Aldred worked with manager Gary Bowyer in his younger days at Blackburn Rovers and feels his hard work is paying off at Bloomfield Road.

“I was only a young lad at Blackburn but I’ve followed his career. He’s put a good structure in place, we know what’s required to improve us going forward, we just need to implement that on the pitch,” he explained.